Instead of using pine nuts and Parmesan in the sauce, this pesto pasta salad is lightened-up with a fresh basil vinaigrette.
It’s super-duper flavorful, and also lower in calories than a traditional pesto recipe.
What Goes With Pesto Pasta?
Fresh cherry tomatoes are the perfect addition in pesto pasta. I also like to add a few extra veggies, like crunchy bell peppers, sweet red onions, and baby spinach, or arugula.
Shallot (or red onion) Garlic Fresh basil leaves Olive oil Red wine vinegar Red pepper flakes Salt
Just blend everything together, and you’ll have a fast, flavorful sauce that’s perfect for pouring over pasta. You can enjoy it warm or cold!
I usually add the veggies in raw, because it’s the fastest method, but you can roast them first, for a Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad, if you prefer.
Make this salad more hearty by adding in a can of drained chickpeas (here how to cook chickpeas, if you’d rather make them from scratch), which adds extra protein and fiber.
A Note About Chilled Pasta Salad
It’s important to note that cold food tastes different than warm food. (Or food that is at room temperature.) This pasta salad will taste unbelievably good when you first mix it together, but if you don’t plan on serving it right away, you can store it covered in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.
When you take the pasta salad out of the fridge, it’s important that you taste it again and adjust the seasoning to taste. It will probably taste slightly more bland than when you first stirred it together, so I recommend seasoning with an extra dash of salt, or a splash of lemon juice to brighten it up again. You can taste as you go, so it’s hard to mess it up.
Add Cheese if You Want To
This pesto pasta salad is so flavorful, you really don’t need the cheese that is typically called for in pesto recipes. As written, this recipe follows food combining principles that may help to streamline your digestion and reduce bloating. If you prefer a pasta salad with cheese, feel free to sprinkle in crumbled feta or grated Parmesan. They both add an extra salty flavor to this dish, which might help with the “chilled pasta” issue I mentioned above. If you try this Pesto Pasta Salad, please leave a comment below and let me know how you like it! And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too. We can all benefit from your experience! – Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite dish to bring to a party? My other go-to recipes are my Holiday Salad and Cowboy Caviar. They are always a hit!
